Well, we're waiting for a letter to come in the mail that gives us an appointment to go to Tampa and have our fingerprints taken for immigration. After our fingerprints are run through the system(s) and show that we're not criminals, we receive a form that is the final piece of paper to be included in our dossier. Our dossier will then be mailed to Ethiopia for them to approve and put us on the waiting list for a baby girl.
So, I'm checking the mail every day as soon as it comes and on Fri., we received the first letter that we have to receive from USCIS (immigration), which says that they've received our request to bring home an orphan and they're processing our request. Which is great news, and we were happy to receive that. But some people, we've heard, receive the actual appointment letter the day following the initial letter that says they're processing the request. So Sat., I ran out and there was no letter in the mailbox. And yesterday, I ran out to check the mail, only to remember it was a holiday. I felt so silly running out to the mailbox at my usual time and remembering Presidents' Day. I hoped no neighbors saw me!
And still nothing today in the mail... So hoping to get the appointment tomorrow... Waiting on God and His perfect timing...
On a happy note, we are LOVING spending so much time with Lisa and Danny and Michael and Kathryn, Luke's siblings and their spouses. Lisa and Danny are in town for 3 weeks before they move to Indonesia for 5 years to be missionaries. So we're seeing them as much as we can while they're here, which also means we're seeing Luke's brother, Michael, and his wife, Kathryn, a lot too, which we love. And tonight, Mimi and Papa are babysitting all 5 grandkids so the 6 adults can go out to dinner and a movie!! I'm so excited! I've been wanting to see The King's Speech for months and we're finally going to see it tonight (hopefully). It was sold out the last time we tried to see it. I love that I married into a sweet, close family who all loves each other so much. It's so wonderful. And Lisa has a fancy camera and has been taking so many pictures of the kids that I will post on the blog soon!
A funny thing Will said: He's so into Star Wars that we have to ration how much the kids are allowed to watch it because really, they all 3 love the movies. So they fight with light sabers and pretend to be Star Wars characters all the time. Hudson told me this morning that I could be Ventress, who is a terrible villain. But that's ok... Anyway, so they're into fighting and playing Star Wars and I've told Will I don't want him to say words like "kill", "murder", "shoot your head off", etc.,because he seems like he's saying them so often and it sounds terrible. So I told him to say the word, "defeat" instead. So at the family picnic the other night, he and Hudson were playing Star Wars with sticks they found on the ground and Will was starting to say some of those words, so I reminded him of the new word to say instead, and he said, "I defeated your head off!!" Not exactly what I had in mind, but still sounds better than the more explicitly violent words!
I'll update when we have some exciting news!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Edit
I meant to say Will was getting his 2 big toeNAILS cut out, not his toes themselves cut out or removed. I'm using Luke's iPad and I'm having a harder time than usual figuring out my blog so I just had to add a new post instead of editing the other post. No judging on my technology issues either!
Homeschool
We have started on a fun new adventure as of 2 weeks ago! Homeschooling! It's going so well so far. Kate, Will, and I are loving it and I'm so thankful that I took the plunge and did it.
I've thought about it off and on for a little while but really just long enough to say, "not for us". But I'm so glad we're doing it. We observed a group today called Classical Conversations that we'll be joining in the fall and I'm so excited about it! We'll homeschool 4 days a week and attend this group on Fridays with tutors to teach the kids in the classical style of learning, complete with Latin! I'm way more excited than the kids, I'm sure. It's so fun to be a teacher again. The kids are learning Bible verses every day, we're all getting along better, we're not rushed and frazzled in the mornings, and they can learn at their own pace. What's not to love? I should've done it from the get go but better late than never.
In adoption news, we sent our USCIS form off and are waiting for our appointment to be fingerprinted. This is the final step before we send our paperwork to Ethiopia and hopefully will be accepted and put on the official waiting list. I've been feeling like the Lord might want us to consider special needs adoption, but Luke is not feeling it so that's fine. I completely trust his judgment. It still feels like we have such a long way to go till we get our baby but homeschooling and Rays baseball will keep me busy till then. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training this Wed.! Hudson got a new David Price shirt today so we're officially ready for Apr. 1!
I went to the most wonderful adoption conference last weekend called Created for Care and was so inspired by all the families with multiple adopted children. A few Ethiopian toddlers were there and they were so beautiful. I can't wait for my African princess! I hope it's not considered bad form to dress her up in big bows and monogrammed outfits. The African American beauty shop I take her to may frown on that but it's going to be hard to resist!
We lost our camera cord so I haven't been able to post the pictures from Hudson's first basketball game but I'll hopefully be able to do it soon. Will is supposed to start baseball next Sat but he's having his 2 big toes cut out/removed because of infection from ingrown toenails so I kind of doubt he'll be starting baseball the very next day after his procedure. The nurse reassured me that they would give him a local anesthetic and he would just sit there and not know anything was going on but they clearly don't know Will, who has to be restrained by 2 nurses and me just to get a flu shot. Next Fri should be very interesting.
Kate and Daddy will be selling Girl Scout cookies outside the grocery store tomorrow night so that should be fun. She's also in a fashion show at a new children's store in Ellenton tomorrow which I'm super excited about because of the shopping I'll need to do after she walks the runway! No more school uniforms! We can buy adorable clothes for her again! I hope she stays petite so I can match her and Baby Zoe in cute dresses and leggings.
That's all our news for now. I can't believe what the Lord is doing in all of our lives. Kate has been a voracious Bible reader and quoter of Scripture to her younger brothers for a while now, which we've been thrilled over. But Will's little heart was growing hard and his attitude had been so defiant and unkind to all of us. In the few short weeks we've been homeschooling, we've seen such a change in him. He is coming back to the sweet little boy he was before he started public school and it makes me get teary eyed with joy and thankfulness. It's like I've got my Will back and I feel so blessed. My children are my greatest blessings, next to Luke, and I'm honored that I get to spend my days teaching and pointing them to Jesus. I'm sure we seem weird to most people but we're just trying to be obedient and it's always worth it.
I've thought about it off and on for a little while but really just long enough to say, "not for us". But I'm so glad we're doing it. We observed a group today called Classical Conversations that we'll be joining in the fall and I'm so excited about it! We'll homeschool 4 days a week and attend this group on Fridays with tutors to teach the kids in the classical style of learning, complete with Latin! I'm way more excited than the kids, I'm sure. It's so fun to be a teacher again. The kids are learning Bible verses every day, we're all getting along better, we're not rushed and frazzled in the mornings, and they can learn at their own pace. What's not to love? I should've done it from the get go but better late than never.
In adoption news, we sent our USCIS form off and are waiting for our appointment to be fingerprinted. This is the final step before we send our paperwork to Ethiopia and hopefully will be accepted and put on the official waiting list. I've been feeling like the Lord might want us to consider special needs adoption, but Luke is not feeling it so that's fine. I completely trust his judgment. It still feels like we have such a long way to go till we get our baby but homeschooling and Rays baseball will keep me busy till then. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training this Wed.! Hudson got a new David Price shirt today so we're officially ready for Apr. 1!
I went to the most wonderful adoption conference last weekend called Created for Care and was so inspired by all the families with multiple adopted children. A few Ethiopian toddlers were there and they were so beautiful. I can't wait for my African princess! I hope it's not considered bad form to dress her up in big bows and monogrammed outfits. The African American beauty shop I take her to may frown on that but it's going to be hard to resist!
We lost our camera cord so I haven't been able to post the pictures from Hudson's first basketball game but I'll hopefully be able to do it soon. Will is supposed to start baseball next Sat but he's having his 2 big toes cut out/removed because of infection from ingrown toenails so I kind of doubt he'll be starting baseball the very next day after his procedure. The nurse reassured me that they would give him a local anesthetic and he would just sit there and not know anything was going on but they clearly don't know Will, who has to be restrained by 2 nurses and me just to get a flu shot. Next Fri should be very interesting.
Kate and Daddy will be selling Girl Scout cookies outside the grocery store tomorrow night so that should be fun. She's also in a fashion show at a new children's store in Ellenton tomorrow which I'm super excited about because of the shopping I'll need to do after she walks the runway! No more school uniforms! We can buy adorable clothes for her again! I hope she stays petite so I can match her and Baby Zoe in cute dresses and leggings.
That's all our news for now. I can't believe what the Lord is doing in all of our lives. Kate has been a voracious Bible reader and quoter of Scripture to her younger brothers for a while now, which we've been thrilled over. But Will's little heart was growing hard and his attitude had been so defiant and unkind to all of us. In the few short weeks we've been homeschooling, we've seen such a change in him. He is coming back to the sweet little boy he was before he started public school and it makes me get teary eyed with joy and thankfulness. It's like I've got my Will back and I feel so blessed. My children are my greatest blessings, next to Luke, and I'm honored that I get to spend my days teaching and pointing them to Jesus. I'm sure we seem weird to most people but we're just trying to be obedient and it's always worth it.
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